7 kids, 2 adults recovering in hospital after Minneapolis school shooting

(NewsNation) — Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis remained closed Thursday as officials continued to investigate a shooting that left two children dead and 18 people injured.

Police said that they have not yet been successful in interviewing the shooter’s mother at this time and would not confirm that authorities have spoken to the shooter’s parents.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the first 911 call came in at 8:31 a.m. A regular police officer, with no helmet or SWAT gear, ran into the church and was directed to the gunman.

Police recovered three shotgun shells, 116 rifle rounds and one live round from a handgun that appeared to malfunction when the shooter attempted to use it.

Four search warrants were executed on Wednesday, with hundreds of pieces of evidence recovered, including electronic devices.

O’Hara said investigators are still attempting to determine a motive, but described the shooter as having a “deranged fascination” with previous school shooters and said the shooter’s writings described hatred toward other groups.

He said the goal of the shooter was to gain notoriety and asked people to stop using the shooter’s name.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson said it appears the shooter acted alone. The shooter’s writing described hatred toward Black people, Mexican people, Christian people and Jewish people and said the only group they didn’t hate was other shooters.

He said the shooter was also obsessed with the idea of killing children.

“The shooter wanted to watch children suffer,” Thompson said.

Officials said the shooter was not on any federal watch list and did not have a documented history of mental health problems. Police said they were not aware of any contacts between the shooter and law enforcement.

The church has a policy of locking doors when Mass begins, which O’Hara said likely saved lives because the shooter could not see who they were shooting at from the outside.

The shooter was able to obtain weapons legally, with no criminal or mental health history that would have prevented them from buying a gun.

Police said the shooter grew up attending the church and school but had not been to church recently and there was no indication of a specific grievance against the church.

O’Hara clarified that an additional victim was unknown to investigators yesterday because the child was transported to hospital by a private vehicle.

Lawmakers call for gun control

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called for state and federal bans on high-capacity magazines in the wake of the shooting and advocated for state and federal bans on assault rifles.

“Our entire city is united in grief…we are united in action,” he said.

His demand was echoed by Leah Kondes of Moms Demand Action and Rep. Ilhan Omar, who also spoke about how she survived war herself and never imagined her children would face the possibility of being gunned down.

Minnesota state Sen.. Zaynab Mohamed called the shooting “pure hate” that is not a part of any community’s ideals.

“We can not shield our children with our eyes closed, and our hands behind our back,” she said, echoing calls for gun control.

Hospitals still treating victims of shooting

Interim CEO of Hennepin Healthcare Thomas Klemond said Thursday the hospital was treating nine victims, including seven children and two adults. Two people, one adult and one child, were in serious condition, and another child was in critical condition.

EMS Chief Marty Scherer said one child received a “shotgun blast to his back” while covering and protecting a fellow student. He said he and his team began transporting wounded victims as soon as they arrived on the scene.

“I think we transported the first patient within less than 10 minutes of the time the call came in,” he said. “I think we were done transporting people after 25 minutes of the call coming in.”

Police said a gunman approached the school’s church around 8 a.m. local time Wednesday and began shooting into the building, as children and adults gathered for Mass marking the start of the school day.

The children killed were 8 and 10 years old, according to officials. All the injured parishioners are expected to survive.

“These beautiful children at Annunciation, they should not have to go through this right now. They should be learning math and playing at recess and messing around in a cafeteria and playing with their friends. That’s what childhood is about,” said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.

Fifteen of the wounded victims were children, ranging in age from 6 to 15. Three octogenarian parishioners were also wounded but expected to survive, authorities said.

‘My friend Victor, like, saved me’: 10-year-old student

As schoolchildren, parents and teachers listened to a psalm on the third day of the new school year, just moments before the congregants were to proclaim “Alleluia,” bullets blasted through the windows.

“Down! Everybody down!” someone shouted, as children ducked for cover behind wooden pews from a barrage of gunfire. One student threw himself on top of a friend and was shot in the back. People used a wooden plank to barricade a door and fled to a gymnasium.

Sixth grader Chloe Francoual raced down a set of stairs and left behind a classmate in the rush before hiding in a room with a table barricading the door. She’d later tell her father that she thought she was going to die.

The shooting went on for several minutes, a man living near the church told the Associated Press. He said he heard as many as 50 shots.

The student whose friend had shielded him, fifth grader Weston Halsne, told reporters in the aftermath outside the church that he sat just a few feet from the windows shattered by the blasts.

“My friend Victor, like, saved me, though, because he laid on top of me,” 10-year-old Weston said. “He’s really brave, and I hope he’s good in the hospital.”

Minnesota gunman had ‘manifesto’ but no ‘specific’ motive

The shooter, identified by authorities as 23-year-old Robin Westman, died on the scene.

The weapons used in the attack were purchased legally, and gun magazines had phrases such as “Kill Donald Trump” and “Where is your God?” written on them, according to police.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told NewsNation on Thursday that authorities executed search warrants at the church and three homes, but nothing found was helpful in identifying a “specific motive.”

He said state and federal authorities were working to comb through hundreds of pages of documents belonging to Westman, finding “some very disturbing writings, and a whole lot of hate” so far.

Authorities “have not been able to identify a specific motive, a specific reason or a specific triggering event” that would’ve caused Westman to target the school, he told NewsNation.

Westman, who changed names in 2017 from Robert to Robin, had “some sort of manifesto that was timed to come out on YouTube,” O’Hara said Wednesday.

That video has since been taken down, and investigators were examining the footage.

Photos: Candlelight vigils held for Minnesota shooting victims

White House reacts to Minnesota shooting

President Donald Trump has not yet commented on the reported messages referencing him, but he called Wednesday’s shooting “tragic” and ordered flags at half-staff until Sunday at sunset.

First lady Melania Trump also weighed in, calling for more action to stop school shootings.

“To prevent future tragedies, it is crucial we look into behavioral threat assessments across all levels of society — beginning in our homes, extending through school districts and of course, social media platforms, she wrote on social media. “Being aware of these warning signs and acting quickly can save lives and make American communities safer.”

FBI Director Kash Patel called the shooting an “act of terrorism and a hate crime targeting Catholics,” though the Minneapolis police chief has said several times there has been no conclusion on a motive.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.